The present invention relates to a centrifuge drum, especially a self-emptying centrifuge drum, with at least one chamber that accommodates a fluid and that is demarcated by a concentric component inserted into the drum with an annular groove located at the outer diameter and accommodating a sealing ring that seals off the chamber in that it rests against a cylindrical surface in the drum.
Centrifuge drums of this type are generally known and are manufactured in an extremely wide range of embodiments. The chamber that is sealed off by the sealing ring can accommodate either the centrifugate or a portion thereof or the control fluid. It is often necessary to empty this chamber periodically and refill it. The chamber in known drums is emptied through valves in the drum that can be activated from outside. The faster the chamber has to be emptied, the more expensive, usually, the valves.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,670,005 describes a self-emptying centrifuge drum wherein the closure fluid, which is located below a piston slide, is let out through an outlet channel in the form of an annular gap that can be closed off by a hydraulically powered valve body. Solutions of this type are complicated in design and cost-intensive.